Soluble powder for espresso type beverage

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a soluble coffee beverage which closely assimilates the texture characteristics of an Italian espresso, namely a beverage with a fine crema, but which has a reduced bitterness compared with freshly brewed espresso but which nevertheless is strong in aroma. The soluble coffee beverage powder includes a soluble gas containing matrix that has between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35% pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosaccharrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight. The soluble beverage powder upon reconstitution with hot water provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of the ingredients, and in which the foamed upper layer substantially all of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm. In another aspect, the invention relates to a process for making such a product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of the US national phase designationof International application PCT/EP01/12044 filed Oct. 17, 2001, theentire content of which is expressly incorporated herein by referencethereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, uponthe addition of water, forms a coffee beverage having a foamed uppersurface. In particular the invention relates to a soluble coffeebeverage which when reconstituted has a “crema”.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Soluble coffee beverage products are well known products, which upon theaddition of water (usually hot) provide a coffee beverage. It is alsowell known to mix the soluble coffee powder with soluble creamer orwhitener powders to produce whitened coffee beverages. These classicalsoluble beverage products are coffee beverages without any foam on theupper surface.

Soluble coffee beverage products of the instant “cappuccino” type arealso known and are commercially available. Usually these products aredry mixes of a soluble coffee powder and a soluble whitener powder. Thesoluble whitener powder contains pockets of gas, which, upon dissolutionof the powder, produce foam. Therefore, upon the addition of water(usually hot), a whitened coffee beverage, which has a milk based foamon its upper surface, is formed; the beverage resembling, to a greateror less extent, traditional Italian cappuccino.

In coffee bars and restaurants, it is usual to serve freshly brewedblack coffee that is prepared on the basis of roast and ground. Thefreshly brewed black coffee is characterized by a light brown foamylayer that covers the upper surface of the beverage. The coffee isusually prepared in an espresso-type machine in which one may, e.g.,brew a short strong espresso or a larger cup of black coffee.

The light brown foamy layer on the espresso is not milk based, as is thecase for cappuccino beverages, but it originates from the carbon dioxideand air captured in the coffee ground and that are released when thecoffee is brewed. The foamy layer on an espresso is often referred to asa “crema”. The crema on a freshly brewed espresso is characterized as alight brown foamy layer, which covers substantially all the surface ofthe beverage, and remains on it during consumption.

The espresso-type beverage is generally found attractive to consumers.However, espresso-type beverages have a particular bitter taste, whichto some consumers is considered to be too strong. A common problem whenaiming to reduce bitterness of coffee beverage is that the coffee aromawill be diluted as well. Further, if, e.g., sugar is used to maskbitterness in a coffee beverage, once sufficient sugar has been added tothe beverage, sugar becomes dominant in the cup profile. Milk,especially whole milk, may be used for balance of aggressive note of thecoffee beverage and mask the potential process notes. However, milk assuch is found not to be sufficient for masking the bitterness of thecoffee beverage.

Accordingly, there is a need for a new soluble coffee beverage, which isan alternative to the above-discussed soluble beverage powder, and toone that is reminiscent of a freshly brewed espresso-type beverage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now provides a soluble coffee beverage whichclosely assimilates the texture characteristics of an Italian espresso,namely a beverage with a fine crema, but which has a reduced bitternesscompared with freshly brewed espresso despite retaining a strong aroma.The crema substantially covers the entire surface of the beverage in athin layer and is sufficient stable to remain on the surface of thebeverage until the last sip of the beverage.

The present invention also provides a soluble coffee beverage thatcomprises a soluble coffee creamer that can be reconstituted withoutflocculation problems. Moreover, this soluble coffee beverage powder hasa substantially homogeneous color.

In particular, the present invention provides a soluble coffee beveragethat includes a soluble gas containing matrix comprising from between10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter ofthe matrix, from about 10% to about 35% pre-flocculated creamer byweight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosaccharrides effective todilute protein in the creamer by weight. Upon the addition of water,this powder forms a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface. Inthis foamed upper layer, substantially all of the foam is made up ofbubbles having diameters in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a process for providing asoluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, isforming a coffee beverage having a foamed upper surface. This processcomprises providing between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weightof the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35%pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30%oligosaccharrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight,mixing the ingredients to a wet mix with a liquid, incorporating gasinto the mixture, and drying the wet mix to a soluble beverage powdercomprising a gas-containing matrix, which soluble beverage powder uponreconstituting provides a foamed upper surface based upon all of theingredients. As noted above, in this foamed upper layer, substantiallyall of the foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of0.05 to 0.5 mm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

It has surprisingly been found that the soluble coffee beverage of theinvention may be obtained by providing a wet mix containing between 10and 35% of coffee solids and 10 to 35% coffee creamer, and 12 to 30%oligosaccharrides. The viscosity of the wet mix is lowered compared tothat of milk or cream wet mix without coffee. This enables that, whenthe wet mix is subsequently subjected to gassing in an amount effectiveto foam the product, a fine gas bubble is capable of being generated.The size of these bubbles is substantially smaller than bubbles thatare, e.g., generated in conventional foaming coffee creamers based onmilk or cream solids. If the gassed wet mix subsequently is subjected toa homogenization step, a further reduction of the bubble gas size in thewet mix may be obtained. These small size gas bubbles are retained inthe product once it has been dried. When the soluble beverage powder isreconstituted it has a foam upper surface of fine bubbles with thecharacteristics of an espresso crema.

It has further been found that aqueous based aroma is particulardesirable for use in the present invention. When aqueous based aroma isused in a wet mix, it uses milk fat or other fat in the coffee creameras a carrier. Further, it has been found that the aqueous aroma masksthe cooked taste of the coffee and contributes with a fresh brewed tasteto the beverage. In this context it should be appreciated that aqueousbased aroma is normally the part of the aroma that is considered a wasteproduct. This makes it even more surprising that the aqueous based aromahas the advantages described herein.

It has also been found that the cup profile of such a formulation lacksof bitterness and other notes typically of fresh brewed coffee. This mayoccasionally occur with some soluble beverage powders, but often specialsoluble beverage notes are present such as notes associated with “dry”,“caramel” and “bready” notes. These notes may be reduced by adding milkor coffee whitener to the soluble beverage, but they cannot beeliminated totally in this way. It has surprisingly been found that byusing aqueous aroma according to the present invention, these kinds ofnotes may be eliminated totally.

Surprisingly, the aqueous aroma also masks the cooked notes of the milkpowder or creamer component usually in soluble milk coffee beverages.Furthermore, the aqueous aroma boosts the coffee aroma intensity withoutintroducing any aggressive notes or off flavors.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ingredients are wetmixed together prior to drying. This gives an attractive substantiallyhomogeneous color to the coffee beverage powder.

Advantageously coffee aroma is incorporated in the wet mix as well.Preferably aqueous based aroma as discussed above is used. This has theadvantage that the coffee aroma is also present in the foam on thesurface of the beverage, as opposed to, e.g., the milk-based foam on acappuccino that usually lacks aroma. The beverage provided by theinvention may therefore have a foamer with a strong smell of coffee,which corresponds to the crema on an Italian espresso.

It is of course possible to merely mix together a soluble coffee powderand an appropriate creamer powder to provide a soluble beverage powderhaving the coffee and creamer in the correct proportions. However, thesoluble beverage powder obtained does not provide an acceptablesolution. In particular, the soluble coffee powder and the creamerpowder are prone to separate to some extent during storage. Therefore itis difficult to ensure that the soluble beverage powder is completelyhomogeneous. Also the soluble beverage powder does not have ahomogeneous color. Further, upon reconstitution, the milk proteins inthe creamer tend to flocculate and this severely affects consumerperception of the product.

Further, it is not possible to produce an acceptable product by simplymixing together a liquid creamer and a coffee extract and then dryingthe mixture to powder. Although the powder obtained will be homogeneous,when reconstituted, flocculated milk proteins are very visible in thebeverage obtained. The flocculated milk proteins severely affectconsumer acceptability. The problem of flocculation of the milk proteinsin coffee beverages has been satisfactorily dealt with in U.S. Pat. No.5,620,733. This patent describes a process in which the milk proteinsare subjected to a controlled flocculation step during processing.Subsequently to the controlled flocculation step, the liquid creamer anda small amount of coffee extract are subjected to homogenization anddrying to provide a creamer powder. Further soluble coffee powder isthen dry mixed in with the creamer powder. After processing in this way,any flocculated milk proteins in the reconstituted beverage are toosmall to be visible. In the context of the present invention it isdesirable to subject the wet mix to a pre-flocculation treatmentcorresponding to that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,733.

It has further surprisingly been found that in a wet mix of these kindcoffee solids in as high as between 25% and 35% coffee solids by weightmay be mixed with a creamer if the creamer has been subjected to apre-flocculation treatment. This may be possible without anyflocculation of the milk protein in the coffee creamer. For somepurposes it is advantages to add stabilizers to the wet mix gives thebeverage a lighter color. It is preferred that from 0.25% to 1.5% ofstabilizers by weight be added to the other ingredients.

In the present context unless otherwise indicated the weight % given arebased on the weight of the solids in the final product.

For the preparation of the beverage powder, coffee solids areconveniently provided in the coffee liquor. The coffee liquor may beobtained using any suitable procedure. Usually, the coffee liquor isprepared by concentrating a coffee extract obtained from a coffeeextraction process to the desired coffee concentration. The coffeeextract may be produced in the usual manner by subjecting roasted coffeebeans to extraction. Any suitable extraction procedure may be usedbecause the choice and design of the extraction procedure is a matter ofpreference and has no critical impact on the invention. Suitableextraction procedures are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,897,903 and5,997,929, the entire disclosures of each of which are expresslyincorporated herein by reference thereto. Similarly, any suitableconcentration procedure may be used because the choice and design of theconcentration procedure is a matter of preference by the skilled artisanand has no critical impact on the invention. Of course, the coffeeliquor may also be prepared by dissolving soluble coffee powder in waterto the desired concentration.

Coffee replacers or surrogates such as chicory may also be used, butthis will provide a cup profile that is less aromatic and has no coffeearoma at all.

Soluble creamer powders are well known and are widely used, particularlyas coffee or tea creamers. Conventionally creamer powders containprotein, fats and sweeteners but other ingredients such as emulsifiers,stabilizers and buffers may also be included. Further, the creamers comein various forms such as milk-based creamer powders and non-dairycreamer powders, and gassed creamer powders. These creamer powders aretypically produced by subjecting a solution containing their componentsto spray drying.

For the present invention preferred coffee creamers are whole milk orskimmed milk, natural or reconstituted from powder; milk derivatives acream or coffee whitening agent comprising for instance lactic proteins,lactose and where appropriate vegetable fat.

It has been found that oligosaccharrides which have the effect ofdiluting the protein of coffee creamers are particular useful in thebeverage powder according to the invention. This effect of certainoligosaccharrides is a means for reducing sediment and flocculationproblems in the beverage. A preferred amount of oligosaccharrides ofthis type is in the range of 12 to 30% by weight of solid matter of thebeverage powder.

A preferred oligosaccharride is oligofructose. It has been found to haveparticular protein diluting effects. In addition, although theoligofructose has no particular foam stabilizing effect, it is perfectlysoluble and may be added e.g. up from 1 to 25% (related to dry matter)without changing the cup profile.

Advantageously, the oligofructose has a degree of polymerization between2 and 8. A suitable oligofructose may be obtained from Raftilose(Orafti). To minimize the impact on the cup profile, it is desirablethat the oligofructose has a concentration of mono- and disaccharides inthe range from about 3% to about 7%.

A positive side effect of the high amount of oligofructose is that thebeverage of the invention may have a prebiotic effect. A prebioticeffect may possible be achieved at a daily dose of 6 g oligofructose.This corresponds to a consumption of 2 to 4 cups of beverage a day.

An alternative oligosaccharride, which may preferably be used, islactose, which dilutes the protein of the milk in the same way.

Stabilizers may be used in order in an amount sufficient to reduceflocculation or in order to eliminate obvious feathering during thepreparation of the coffee beverage. If the dispersion of thepre-flocculated protein and the fat particles is fine enough, thebeverage is uniformly yellow brown. In the case of flocculation, thebeverage becomes darker because the particles float to the downside ofthe foam or to the bottom of the cup. The stabilizers reducesedimentation. It is preferred that from 0.25% to 1.5% of stabilizers byweight is added to the ingredients. Preferably, a combination ofphosphates and citrates is used. It has been found that this combinationmay be used without generation of soapy notes, which often is presentwhen stabilizers are used.

The soluble coffee beverage powder may also include a soluble sweetener,natural or artificial. Suitable examples include sucrose, fructose,lactose, maltose, saccharin, cyclamates, acetosulfame, L-aspartyl basedsweeteners such as aspartame, and the like, and mixtures of these. Theamount of the sweetener used will vary depending upon the desired levelof sweetness and the strength of the sweetener. However for sugar basedsweeteners, the total amount of sweeteners is usually in the range ofabout 10% to about 25% by weight. The soluble sweetener may also becombined with bulking agents such as maltodextrins and polydextrose,particularly if an artificial sweetener is used. In this case, the totalamount of sweetener and bulking agent is usually in the range of about10% to about 25% by weight; artificial sweetener itself usuallycomprising less than 1% by weight. For a sweeter variety of the solublebeverage powder according to the invention, a more sweet type ofoligofructose may also be selected. An oligofructose with up to 45%mono- and disaccharides is particular suitable for this purpose.

In a preferred version of the soluble coffee beverage of the invention,from 15 to 25% of sugar are included.

The present invention provides a soluble coffee beverage, which closelyassimilates the texture characteristics of an Italian espresso, namely abeverage with a fine crema. The reconstituted beverage provides a foamedupper surface of all of the ingredients, and in which substantially allof the foam is made up of bubble having a diameter in the range of 0.05to 0.5 mm. A bubble size in this range can barely be seen with the bareeye. The invention provides foam with a bubble size so small thatsubstantially no single bubbles can be detected in the main part of thecrema. This applies also to a cream of an Italian style Espresso.

It has been found that with a powder particles size from 100 to 200 μm,and the gas bubbles in the powder are in the walls of bubbles, thebubble size after preparation is between 0.01 and 0.5 mm and thepressure in the bubbles is below 5 bar. A more preferred foam bubblediameter is in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 mm, and even more preferred inthe range of 0.2 to 0.3 mm. It has been found that with small foambubble diameters such as from 0.05 to 0.5 mm, a crema is obtained thatsubstantially covers the entire surface of beverage in a thin layer andthat it is sufficiently stable to remain on the surface of the beverageuntil the last sip of the beverage is consumed.

The size of the foam bubbles may be measured and directly evaluated bymeans of a scanner, e.g., by scanning the product foam and measuring thebubble size. A suitable scanner is e.g. HP Scanjet II CX or AgfaSnapscan.

Merely processing the roasted coffee beans to a coffee base concentrateas described above will result in the loss of substantially all coffeearoma. Therefore, it is preferred to specifically strip off and thencollect the coffee aroma during processing. In this way, the coffeearoma is not lost and is returned to the powder. Processes for strippingoff and collecting the coffee aroma are well known. Usually coffee aromais stripped off at one or more stages; for example:—

using an inert gas or steam during, or immediately after, grinding ofthe coffee beans, and

using steam to strip coffee aroma from the coffee extract duringextraction.

Alternatively, the fresh coffee grounds may be slurried in water orcoffee extract and the coffee aroma stripped from the slurry. A suitableprocedure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,957, the entire disclosureof which is expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.

The coffee aroma may be captured using any suitable procedure.Ordinarily, the coffee aroma is captured by condensing from the carriergas it in one or more condensers. Preferably more than one condenser isused; each succeeding condenser being operated at a lower temperaturethan the previous condenser. If necessary or desired, one of thecondensers may be a cryogenic aroma condenser. A suitable cryogenicaroma condenser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,926; the disclosureof which is incorporated by reference. The captured coffee aroma may, ifdesired, be concentrated using a suitable technique such as partialcondensation or rectification. The captured coffee aroma may be combinedwith a suitable carrier substrate such as coffee oil or emulsioncontaining coffee oil or other fats. Aqueous coffee aroma components andorganic coffee aroma components are then separated. A suitable methodfor separating aqueous coffee aroma components from organic coffee aromacomponents is described in US published patent application 2002018839,the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by referencethereto.

The processes for the production of the coffee extract and capture ofthe coffee aroma may be carried out under oxygen reduced or oxygen freeconditions if desired. This may be accomplished as is known in the art;for example by carrying out the processes under a blanket of inert gas.Further, deoxygenated water may be used whenever water is necessary inthe process.

The coffee aroma is preferably stored under oxygen reduced or oxygenfree conditions and frozen. Similarly, the coffee base concentrate maybe stored under oxygen reduced or oxygen free conditions. Further, ifdesired, oxygen scavengers may be added to the coffee aroma and/orcoffee base concentrate. Suitable oxygen scavengers are described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,093,436, the disclosure of which is expresslyincorporated herein by reference thereto.

The soluble beverage powder preferably contains about 0.05% to about0.5% by weight of aqueous coffee aroma components; more preferably about0.1% to about 0.3% by weight.

Preferably the aqueous coffee aroma components include highly volatileaqueous aroma components that condense at temperatures less than about0° C.

The aqueous coffee aroma components are natural aroma components thatmay be collected during the preparation of soluble coffee powder. Thismay be done by standard procedures for collecting coffee aromacomponents or by suitably modifying the standard procedures. Preferably,the natural aroma components include highly volatile aroma components.Highly volatile aroma components are those which condense at atemperature below about 0° C.

To collect highly volatile aroma components, the standard proceduresusually entail flushing volatile aroma components from the coffee duringprocessing using an inert carrier gas such as nitrogen. The aroma-ladencarrier gas is then chilled to temperatures lower than about −40° C.,and sometimes as low as about −195° C., to cause the aroma components tocondense. The condensed aroma components are then collected. Thecondensed aroma components are then usually absorbed into an aromasubstrate; usually an oil. Alternatively, the aromas may be absorbedinto the aroma substrate during condensation. Suitable standardprocedures are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,823,241,5,030,473, and 5,222,364, the disclosures of each of which are expresslyincorporated herein by reference thereto.

However, in the standard procedures described above, the aromatizedaroma substrate obtained contains both aqueous and organic aromacomponents. In general, the aqueous components are then removed andoften discarded because they are unstable and cause instabilityproblems. This leaves the aroma substrate containing substantially onlyorganic aroma components. However, instead of discarding these aqueouscomponents, these components are collected in the form of an aqueousaroma solution.

The aqueous aroma solution is then added to the other components makingup the beverage prior to drying of the components. Sufficient aqueousaroma solution may be added such that the aqueous coffee aromacomponents comprise about 0.05% to about 0.5% by weight of the beveragepowder; and preferably about 0.1% to about 1% in the concentrate beforedrying.

The coffee creamer is conveniently produced by preparing a creamersolution containing the desired amount of protein, carbohydrate andlipids. For example, 30% skimmed milk, 40% lactose, 30% vegetable oil ormilk fat. Water may be added when powdered raw material is used.

The creamer solution is then heat treated at about 90° C. to about 120°C. for about 1 to about 500 seconds; and preferably about 105° C. toabout 115° C. for about 5 seconds to about 20 seconds. This may becarried out in a heat exchanger or by direct injection of steam, or acombination of both. The creamer solution is then concentrated byevaporation, and usually to a total solids concentration of about 40% toabout 60% by weight. Suitable evaporators may be used.

A coffee solution may then be added to the concentrated creamersolution. The coffee solution may as discussed above be a concentratedcoffee extract obtained from a coffee extraction process or may beprepared by dissolving coffee powder into a desired amount of water. Theconcentration of the coffee solids in the coffee solution is preferablysimilar to the concentration of the creamer solids in the concentratedcreamer solution.

Further, the aqueous aroma as described above is added to theconcentrated creamer solution, as well as the soluble filler, andstabilizers may preferably be added to the concentrated creamersolution.

The wet mix is then subjected to a pre-flocculation treatment. The pH ofthe concentrated mixture is, if necessary, standardized to about 5.5 toabout 6.5 and preferably from about 6.1 to about 6.4. Also, ifnecessary, the calcium content of the mixture may be standardized toabout 3 to about 5 mmol/l. The aroma substrate may then be mixed intothe standardized mixture.

The mixture is then subjected to heat treatment at about 90° C. to about120° C. for about 1 to about 500 seconds; and preferably at about 105°C. to about 115° C. for about 5 seconds to about 20 seconds. This may becarried out in a heat exchanger or by direct injection of steam, or acombination of both. This heat treatment causes controlled flocculationof proteins in the mixture.

It is also possible to carry out the pre-flocculation treatment on theconcentrated creamer solution prior to addition of the coffee solution,but this is less preferred.

The wet mix is then subjected to homogenization. This is preferablycarried out in two stages. For example homogenization may be carried outin a first stage at about 10 MPa to about 30 MPa and then in a secondstage at about 2 MPa to about 7 MPa.

Subsequently, the wet mix may be gassed by injecting of a gas such asnitrogen or carbon dioxide into it. The gas is then dispersed within themixture by means of a dispersing machine and the gassed mixture is thenpassed onto a homogenizer.

Preferred amount of gases are from about 10 to about 30 liters of gasfor each 10 kg of dry matter. More preferably from about 15 to about 25liters of gas for each 10 kg of dry matter. The preferred gas isnitrogen as it has been found to give the best foaming effect of thepowder.

The gassed and homogenized mixture is then spay-dried in a conventionalmanner. The spray-dried powder has a matrix comprising the solublefiller and the soluble coffee solids. The spray drying may convenientlytake place in a spray-drying tower having for example a De-Lavan spraynozzle. The pressure in front of the nozzle is preferably in the rangeof from 45 to 70 bars and the temperature in the tower is preferably inthe range of from 75 to 9520 C. Subsequent to the drying, the powder maybe cooled in a fluidized bed cooler and exits the final sieve at atemperature of 40° C. It is preferred that the tapped specific gravityof the powder be in the range from about 150 to about 250 g/l, and morepreferably is between about 200 and about 220 g/l. Tapped specificgravity is referring to the gravity of the powder when compressed byvibrating the powder with 100 pushes of 10 mm.

EXAMPLES

Specific examples are now described to further illustrate the invention.

Example 1 Preparation of the Soluble Coffee Beverage Powder

Samples of the soluble coffee beverage powder according to the inventionare prepared as follows: All figures are given as dry matter in thefinal product.

1) A coffee creamer is prepared by diluting 20% wt sugar, and 10 to 30%wt oligofructose in whole milk.

2) Adding stabilizers of 0.5 to 1.0% wt of sodium hydrogen phosphate and0.1 to 0.5% wt sodium citrate to the coffee creamer in a waterysolution.

3) Additional water is added to provide a total dry matter content of16%+/−2% prior to evaporation and the first heat treatment.

4) Adding aqueous coffee aroma to the coffee creamer concentrate at 0.3to 1% wt.

5) Providing a coffee liquor of 45 to 50% dry matter content, and mixingthe coffee liquor with the creamer part in a ratio of 25 to 30%.

6) The mixture is subjected to a second heat treatment forpre-flocculation at 100 to 110° C.

7) The mixture is gassed with a 2 to 3 liters of nitrogen per kg of drymatter.

8) The samples are now optionally subjected to a homogenization step at100 to 110 bars, in a first stage, and a second stage of 50 to 60 bars,in a conventional homogenizer.

9) The mixture is fed to the spray dryer and spray-dried at 80 to 90° C.in a spray drying tower with an output of about 700 kg per hour.

10) The sprayed coffee powder is cooled to about 40° C.

The tapped specific gravity of the final soluble coffee powder aftercooling is between 200 and 250 g/L.

Example 2 Preparation of the Beverage

Samples of beverage are prepared as follows:

7 g of a soluble beverage coffee powder as prepared in Example 1 is putinto cups and 80 ml hot water is added. A fine crema comes up with amarble-like colored surface. The powder is partly or totally wetteddepending on how the water is poured into the cups. After stirring thebeverage, the surface is light yellow brown with concentric circles indifferent light shade of yellow brown. During preparation a full, strongaroma of fresh brew coffee comes up.

The crema is examined with the bare eye, and substantially no individualfoam bubbles can be distinguished.

Example 3 Evaluation of the Beverage

A taste panel evaluated the samples prepared in Example 1 and 2, andthen compared them with samples of commercially available soluble coffeeproducts in the same concentration. These samples are prepared in thesame concentration. The commercial available coffee products are withouta crema.

A) Nescafé Gold from Germany: 2 g mixed with 70 ml hot water and 10 gwhole UHT milk.

B) Nescafé au Lait: 7 g mixed with 80 ml hot water.

The samples following examples 1 and 2 are described as less bitter thanA) and more aromatic than B). The overall impression of the samplesfollowing example 1 and 2 is that they are like a fresh brewed coffeewithout any aggressive notes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for providing a soluble coffee beverage powder, which, upon the addition of water, forms a coffee beverage having a foamed upper layer, which process comprises: providing, as ingredients, between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the ingredients, from about 10% to about 35% pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosaccharrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, mixing the ingredients to a wet mix with a liquid, incorporating gas into the wet mix, and drying the wet mix to a soluble beverage powder comprising a gas-containing matrix, which soluble beverage powder upon reconstitution with water provides a foamed upper layer based upon all of the ingredients, and in which substantially all foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the wet mix is gassed with from 1 to 3 liters of gas per kg of dry matter.
 3. The process of claim 2, wherein the gassed wet mix is homogenized prior to drying.
 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the soluble coffee is provided in the form of a coffee concentrate with 10% to 35% dry matter by weight of the concentrate.
 5. The process of claim 1, wherein the soluble gas containing matrix includes one or more of aqueous based aroma, from about 10% to about 25% of a soluble sweetener by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, or one or more stabilizers in an amount sufficient to reduce flocculation.
 6. The process of claim 1, wherein the oligosaccharrides are present in an amount of between about 15% and about 25% and are provided by oligofructose or lactose.
 7. A process for providing a coffee beverage having a foamed upper layer, which process comprises: providing a soluble coffee beverage powder according to claim 1, and reconstituting the powder with water to provide a coffee beverage having a foamed upper layer in which substantially all foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm.
 8. A process for providing a coffee beverage having a foamed upper layer, which process comprises: providing a soluble coffee beverage powder that includes a soluble gas containing matrix comprising, as ingredients, between 10% and 35% soluble coffee solids by weight of the total dry matter of the matrix, from about 10% to about 35% pre-flocculated creamer by weight, and from about 12% to about 30% oligosaccharrides effective to dilute protein in the creamer by weight, and reconstituting the powder with water to provide a coffee beverage having a foamed upper layer in which substantially all foam is made up of bubbles having a diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 mm. 